We asked small press editors what their three favorite books of the year were, and the results are really interesting. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I guess I was picturing some sort of consensus. Instead, of the 25 books/chapbooks nominated, only two were mentioned even twice. The “clear-cut” favorite--garnering two first place votes--was Kate Greenstreet’s This is Why I Hurt You, from Lame House Press. End Notebook by Geoffrey Olsen (Petrichord Books) was the other, receiving a second and third place vote. So what this ended up being is a comprehensive “25 Books/Chapbooks You Should Read” list, as opposed to another tired “Best of” list. Shame on us.

It also ended up being quite a collection of presses; only one (Bloof Books) had even two nominees. And I was glad to see two of my favorite books of the year get their props--Chris Vitiello’s Irresponsibility (Ahsahta Press) and Sampson Starkweather’s City of Moths (afterall, I chose it for Rope-A-Dope Press’ Golden Gloves Chapbook Series).

Thanks to all the editors who responded and of course to all of the poets and publishers who made these books possible.